The present invention relates to the handling of parcels within a sorting or similar facility.
In a sorting facility for parcels, parcels are unloaded from trucks or other vehicles at unloading locations, sorted, and then loaded onto trucks or other vehicles at loading locations for delivery to the intended recipients. Thus, within the sorting facility, there is often a complex system of conveyors and equipment that facilitates transport and sorting of the parcels within the facility.
In such systems, a load chute is commonly used to feed parcels onto another conveyor. In order to properly feed the parcels, it is preferred that the load chute be adjustable, i.e., that the position of the distal end of the load chute can be adjusted. For instance, the distal end of the load chute may be raised or lowered relative to an underlying floor surface. Such a load chute is typically configured for rotation about an axis, and thus characterized as a “pivoting load chute.”
There remains a need for an improved pivoting load chute construction for certain applications and uses within a sorting or similar facility.